The Gaming Den

Blade Fighter

"It takes skill to kill with the blade, but don't be afraid to use the point."

Fighting is not a pleasant thing. You are trying to physically exert your will upon an other creature, usually trying to end their life.

Some people who do this sort of thing on a regular basis learn that certain methods and techniques are effective at surviving fights. If these people live long enough, they eventually have others learn from them. If enough people become students of a single person's methods, then a fighting style is born.

Fighting styles range in both methodology and tools; from the use of turning non-weapons into weapons, to using obvious weapons in a fashion that they were not expected to be used.

Fighting with knives is very common, and thus many different fighting styles deal with how to use a relatively short piece of hard substance in a manner that both keeps you alive and also makes the other creature dead.

Pre-Requisites

BaB:+3
Skills: Craft 5 Ranks, Knowledge (Nature) 5 Ranks
Feats: Combat School (Slashing or Piercing weapons)

Hit Dice: d8
Skills: Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex).

Skills per Level: 6 + Int Mod

BaB: Good (1/1)
Saving Throws: Fort: Poor, Reflex: Good, Will: Good

Abilities:

1 Train the Body and Mind, Bend like a reed in the wind, Hone the Blade, Distracting Strike
2 Blade Lore, Killing with the edge takes skill, Pragmatic Point
3 Push the Body and Mind, Crippling Strike
4 Predilection for blade-fighting, Blinding Strike
5 Break the Body and Mind, May your blade chip and shatter

Train the Body and Mind: +2 on Will and Fort saves

Bend like a reed in the wind: As long as you are not denied your Dexterity modifier to your Armour Class, and you are wearing armour that you have mastered (I.E. Having more than 2 BaB over the armour's ACP) (or light armour or no armour if not using RoW); you may add your intelligence modifier to your armour class; if it is positive.

Hone the Blade: With 1 hour's time and 10 GP, you can turn any light slashing and/ piercing weapon into a masterwork weapon. You may do this while performing an other action, if it is possible to do both at the same time (cooking or smithing a horseshoe = no; walking or talking with someone = yes).
With 8 hours time and access to a forge, you can turn any object into an appropriate masterwork light slashing and/or Piercing weapon. If this changed object was a weapon, it retains any unique magical properties that the original weapon had.

Distracting Swipe: You may elect to deal no damage with any of your attacks with light slashing/piercing weapons. If you do so, your target is Cowered. This Cowered effect lasts until the target takes damage from any source or at the end of the turn that the action was performed in (Eg. If you performed this while making an AoO on your target, the effect ends once your target's turn is over; if performed in your turn, the effect ends when your turn is over).

Blade Lore: Any masterwork light slashing/piercing weapon you wield may count as if it were a Magic weapon. If you have used this weapon before, making your wielded weapon Magic is a non-action. If you have just picked up this weapon, making your wielded weapon Magic is a standard action.

Killing with the edge takes skill: You may add the Enhancement bonus of one light slashing/piercing weapon that you are wielding to your results in Grapple checks. If you have the edge in a Grapple, you may attack with a light slashing/piercing weapon as soon as you can attack in the grapple.

Pragmatic Point: Your range increments with all light slashing/piercing weapons is doubled. You may add your one half your Character level to your attack rolls with light slashing/piercing weapons; if you do so, your damage is reduced to the weapon's base damage.

Push the Body and Mind: As an immediate action, take 1 Con and 1 Wis damage; gain up to your class level on all Attack and Damage rolls, Skill checks, Saving Throws and Armour Class. This bonus lasts until the encounter ends.

Blinding Strike: If you attack a Cowered opponent, you may choose to blind them, if you do so your attack deals no damage. A creature blinded in this manner can make a full round action to clear their eyes, clearing ones eyes is an action that provokes an attack of opportunity.

Predilection for knife-fighting: Gain DR X/-, where X is 2+ 1/2 your character level.

Crippling Strike: If you deal damage to a grappled opponent with a light slashing or piercing weapon, you may embed your weapon in your target. If you do so, the target receives the weapon's last enhancement bonus as a penalty to all of their attack rolls, damage rolls, grapple checks, skill checks and saving throws.
Pulling out the weapon is a full round action that provokes an Attack of Opportunity. The embedded weapon counts against your maximum equippable magic items as long as it is in your target and is giving them the penalty to rolls.

Break the Body and Mind: As an immediate action, take 1 Con and 1 Wis damage; gain up to your character level on all Attack and Damage rolls, Skill checks, Saving Throws and Armour Class. This bonus lasts until the encounter ends.

If this Ability damage is healed before the current adventure ends (either naturally or through magical means), then you receive a penalty to your Con and Wis equal to the amount of times you have used this ability on your current adventure. This penalty lasts until the current adventure is complete, after which it is removed.

May your blade chip and shatter: As a standard action you may crack any light slashing/piercing that you wield.

If you deal damage to a creature, the weapon is destroyed. The weapons last enhancement bonus is given as a penalty to all of the target's attack rolls, damage rolls, grapple checks, skill checks and saving throws. This effect lasts until the encounter ends.

The cracked weapon counts against your maximum equippable magic items as long as it is in your target and is giving them the penalty to rolls.

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Took me about a couple of days or so writing this on paper. The idea is that the character sacrifices rather important things (their physical stats, their weapons) in order to perform better and survive their current fight. The rest of the time, they rely on getting in close with their enemies (grappling, crippling, then stabbing to death) or throwing knives or darts at them if there's more than one enemy.

I stole a lot of lines and desriptions from Frank Herbert's first Dune book, but I think that it's a forgivable sin.

Yes, I did give the class a pile of class abilites every level. However, in many levels, not all of them will be used in the level that they are obtained.

Yes, I also know that you can hulk out by taking a pile of Con/Wis damage with Push the Body and Mind, but it's risky. Break the Body and Mind is much larger (Double at least) and will do shit like push things way past the RNG, but you can't really 'fix' the damage done until the adventure is over (not x/day, it's as much as you want, but you only clean the damage at the end of the adventure, so it's really a 'boss' fight ability).

I didn't write any fluff, but you can guess what most of it is for each ability. Predilection for Knife fighting should be obvious.

I used Cowered for the effect of Distracting Strike, since I wanted there to both be a AC penalty and a denial of dex to AC, the 'lack of actions' effect shouldn't last for very long, as the next time they are attacked, they are no longer cowered. I felt that this was better than to make up a new 'Distracted' status effect.

Train the body and mind: unless you use fractional (even if you use the RoW "method"), just give all good saves. Bend like a reed in the wind: Tumble as AC when you had your Dex to AC might work (unless I'm forgetting some easy method not to lose it at all). Distracting swipe: the fact that cowering allows no actions at all is relevant to blinding strike too (also, the action denial lasts exactly as long as the AC reductions - you might as well write "the target loses Dex to AC and suffers a -2 penalty to AC"). DR: man, this class has 5 levels and isn't entered at character level 1; 2+character level/2, or something else, or nothing, but not 4. Break the body and mind: first, you may wanna meet ability burn:

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicPowersOverview.htm wrote:Ability Burn
This is a special form of ability damage that cannot be magically or psionically healed. It is caused by the use of certain psionic feats and powers. It returns only through natural healing.

(the place it's at doesn't help, I know) - also, why'd I not use it every encounter?

Train the body and mind: unless you use fractional (even if you use the RoW "method"), just give all good saves.

Hmm, yeah. I forgot about that. I want the bonus to saves to show something related to the abities that show up later in this class... I need to change the pre-reqs and add more things.

Bend like a reed in the wind: Tumble as AC when you had your Dex to AC might work (unless I'm forgetting some easy method not to lose it at all).

Or just add int mod to AC if not denied dex mod to AC and wearing armour that gives you no armour check penalty (RoW armour rules) (or light armour)?

Distracting swipe: the fact that cowering allows no actions at all is relevant to blinding strike too (also, the action denial lasts exactly as long as the AC reductions - you might as well write "the target loses Dex to AC and suffers a -2 penalty to AC").

I can just write up 'distracted' as an ability condition. I just don't like making up new mechanics if there's something already existing that I can use.

DR: man, this class has 5 levels and isn't entered at character level 1; 2+character level/2, or something else, or nothing, but not 4.

... whoops, that was supposed to read character levels. not class. It was meant to be like the RoW barbarian DR

Break the body and mind: first, you may wanna meet ability burn:

I don't mind the d20SRD hypertext site, I actually use it when I can't pull up a book easily.

I really don't want the lowering of stats to go away, neither do I want the damage to be repaired even through natural healing. I want it the penalty to last until the adventure is over.

The idea being that the character is a worn out husk at the end of the adventure if they were too fast and easy with Break the Body and Mind, that or dead.

So, Push the Body and Mind gets used more often, and you can heal it if you're careful, but Break the Body and Mind is when you need to wtfbbq-win//hulkout. I also don't want people taking a week off between fights.

Usually if you use Break the B&M, you should be able to solo your current encounter (seriously, it's at least +10 to all your rolls and AC at lvl 10); but you're decidedly weaker, not just now, but until this overall adventure is done.

The 'break' ability should probably do drain. Otherwise, a character will automatically get the penalty after a day or two. Also, the indefinite cowering might be a bit much. Maybe limit it to a day?

The 'break' ability should probably do drain. Otherwise, a character will automatically get the penalty after a day or two.

That was the intent actually. Players should be able to count the amount of times they've seen the Blade Fighter in the group break their body and mind over the course of their entire career on both hands.

The penalty is meant to be there even after you've healed the damage. Even, and especially if you've healed the damage through rest.

Pushing the body and mind is meant to happen a lot more often.

Also, the indefinite cowering might be a bit much. Maybe limit it to a day?

I should really only limit it to one round. The effect is large, but your right Catharz. It shouldn't last.

After thinking about it last night, the "lack of actions" effect from Cowering is exactly what I wanted to go for.

The inspiration for this ability is based on a lot of knife fighting techniques which open up with something really useless looking, but surprisingly effective attacks. Usually they focus on combinations of attacks that set up the target for a single lethal attack.

One of these is slashing at your enemies belly.

The reason being that when struck at the belly, most people will jump their hips backwards. Which is good to keep your belly safe from say a dog or a predator. It's bad if the attack at your belly was meant to expose your head, neck and shoulders to a sideways cut along the forehead (blinding you with the blood from a severed vein) or more lethal attacks along the nerve and muscle bundles along the crotch of the neck or into the neck itself.

The belly slash instantly freezes the target (the point of the attack), it's a very easy target to hit (most people don't cover their gut, they cover their face/chest), you don't even need to do more than graze it to get the result (seriously, just flick the fingers of your hand at someone's belly and don't tell me that you don't get a reaction, they instantly spring their hips backwards).

Edits done, skill list next.

People are probably going to get sick of this, but

bump for skills, and inclusion in the PDF.

Added skills. They're not perfect though, I just copied the rogue and deleted what didn't fit, but w/e.

I need to change some things around. Like Pragmatic Point. you get a massive to hit, but only deal base weapon damage. That needs to get fixed.

How does Distracting Strike even work? Do you have to score a 'hit' or can you just do nothing and make people cower? How many people can you make cower? How long do they cower for? What's the range on it?

As for Break the Body and Mind...man, that's a pretty big number boost.

Surgo wrote:How does Distracting Strike even work? Do you have to score a 'hit' or can you just do nothing and make people cower? How many people can you make cower? How long do they cower for? What's the range on it?

As for Break the Body and Mind...man, that's a pretty big number boost.

1. I guess that I should make that more clear. That's partly why I'm looking at this again. I knew that some things in this class needed tweaking before it should go into the PDF Aktariel is now working on.

I think that the text from Blinding Strike is more clear, so I'll use that.

2. Yes. It's supposed to be "you have big numbers, you better have needed it" because if you didn't need wtfpwn numbers to survive the encounter that you thought you needed that number boost, then you're actually sort of fucked up a little until the adventure ends. I actually stated that this class pushes you off the RNG when that ability is used.

Most of the time, you'll probably see "Push" used, since it's +5 all around for 1 con/wis damage, and that can be healed at lvl 10 pretty easy.

Pragmatic point needs to be changed as well, maybe make the action a standard one and you get the to-hit bonus?

Killing with the edge of the blade also needs work, but I'm not sure what to do with it?

wait,

Pragmatic Point: ignore Hardness/DR, however each attack takes up either A) A standard action or B) 2 Attack actions.

Killing with the Edge: bonus to-hit, same cost as pragmatic point.

Blade fighter: the prerequisite Combat School should be one of just those weapons, or just include some weapon taken from one? Bend like a reed in the wind: capitalize Int, and, for the purposes of the .pdf specifically, the parenthesized section doesn't belong. Distracting swipe: "your successful attacks". Blade lore: "count as" for stuff like DR and incorporeality, but no minor magic weapon bonuses (might bear clarifying)? [Check light weapon use while grappling.] Pragmatic point: "light throwing", or all? Also, "base damage" == "die" or "die + Str + enhancement"? Push the body and mind: if you don't make it ability burn (BTW, I'm not sure if it's described in one of the books the Tomes assume ... so you might just say "can only be healed naturally"), it will be used all the damn time. Predilection for blade-fighting: doesn't necessarily matter, but that's technically better than the barbarian's (for being character level instead of class level). Crippling strike: maybe allow the user to sever the connection somehow? Break the body and mind: even if the use limitation's enforced in some way, the size and width of the bonuses just mean "you win this combat", unless said combat's insane enough as to count as GM penis waving. Also, while it might work for your campaigns, there's no standard definition of adventure, so I guess it should be something else in published product - given the bonus size, and that a decent solution'd again be ability burn, I'm afraid you should trash and replace this one. May your blade chip and shatter: is there some way to force the effect to end? If not, the item slot occupying lasts simply "until the end of the encounter".

I thought you told me a character should never be allowed to Nova?